Workholder for saws



June 29, H E TAUTZ WORKHOLDER FOR SAWS Filed Feb. 19, 1936 .3 Sheets-Sheet l WI ESEI-S ay 2 1937. H. E. 'TAUTZ 2 8 2% WORKHGLDER FOR SW15 Filed Feb. 19, 1936 3 Sheets-S'net 3 1 FIG. 5

' Patented June 29, 1937 Gil WORKHOLD ER FOR saws Herbert E. Tautz, Milwaukee, Wis, assignor to The Delta Manufact uring Company, Milwau- 9 Claims.

The invention relates to work holders for saws, shapers, and other machine tools.

The ordinary circular saw has been used t some extent, especially in small shops, for cutting tenons and for making dado cuts in end grain, although such practice is attended with considerable danger to the operator. The customary saw guard cannot be used in such operations because of the position of the work, and there is the possibility that the operators hand may be drawn against the saw blade by a deflected work-piece. A further disadvantage is that slipping of the work will cause inaccurate cutting and damage to the work. The use of a rotary shaper ior cutting a work-piece at or near its end and across the grain has also been open to similar objections.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a work holder of simple, durable, and inexpensive construction for use on circular saws and other machines to enable tenoning, shaping, and other cutting operations to be safely, accurately, and quickly performed, even by inex perienced operators.

Another object of the invention is to provide a work holder which will accommodate workpieces of different size, and which will facilitate repetition cutting.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating certain embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a work holder constructed in accordance with theinvention applied to a circular saw machine;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the work holder and machine, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the work holder and machine, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of parts of the work holder;

Fig. 5 is another elevation of the work holder and machine, and showing another form of work mounting, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 6 is a further elevation of the work holder and machine, as set up for cutting a dovetail;

Fig. 7 is an end elevation of certain parts of the work holder;

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of a sliding base plate, and

Fig. 9 is an end elevation of the work holder applied to a spindle shaper.

In that form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 8, ill designates a woodworking machine having a table H and a cutter 12. The machine is here exemplified by a circular saw machine, the saw blade 12 thereof projecting through a slot l3 in a removable table insert [4. The table is provided with a guideway extending parallel to the plane of the saw blade and preferably in the form of one of the usual guide grooves IS in the table top. The circular saw machine may be of any suitable construction, such as that shown in my United States Letters PatentNo. 1,910,651 for Trunnion table mounting, issued May 23, 1933.

A fiatrectangular metal base plate It slidably rests on the table top, and a guide bar or key I! is secured, as by screws l8, to the bottom face of the base plate. The guide bar I! slidably fits in one of the guide grooves l5 of the table, so as to confine the base plate in a longitudinal path of travel parallel to the plane of the saw blade i2. One side edge of the base plate is adjacent the plane of the saw blade.

A hollow L-shaped bracket I9 slidably rests on the base plate I6 and is movable thereon in a lateral direction perpendicular to the longitudinal path of travel of the base plate, the bracket being guided in its lateral movement by a guide bar or key 20 secured thereto by screws 2! and slidably fitting in a transversely extending guideway or groove 22 formed in the top face of the base plate near the rear edge of the plate. The bracket I9 is clamped in adjusted .positlon on the base plate by an upright stud 23 removably screw-threaded into an opening 24 in the base plate (Fig. 3) and extending through a slot 25 formed in the horizontal foot portion of the bracket, the upper end of the stud being rigidly secured to a handle 26. A thumb-screw 21 is threaded into the bracket IE to laterally engage the stud 23, and serves not only to limit the travel of the bracket toward the saw blade so that the bracket will not strike the saw blade, but also to. effect fine adjustment of the bracket with respect to the saw blade. The thumb-screw 21 is held in adjusted position by a lock nut 28. The hollow bracket l9 isinternally ribbed for rigidity, and has a machined fiat bottom surface engaging the base plate, the bearing surface including bearing pads 29 (Fig. 4) near the slot 25 to resist clamping pressure exerted by the 50 stud 23.

The upstanding portion of the L-shaped bracket l9 has a machined flat work-positioning face, 30 which is perpendicular to the table top and parallel to the direction of travel of the base 55 plate. A guard member or housing 3| is spaced above the table and is rigidly secured to the bracket l9, as by means of screws 32 (Figs. 3 and 4), the guard member forming an extension of the bracket. The guard member 3| has a machined flat work-positioning face 33 perpendicular to the bracket face'30 and to the table top. A side face of the guard member is provided with a horizontally extending channel 34 in which slidably fits a clamping arm 35, the arm being adjustably secured to the guard memher by a thumb-screw 38 passing through a slot 31 in the arm and into a. threaded bore 33 (Fig.

4) formed in the hasscrew-threaded therethrough a clamping screw 39 extending perpendicular to the clamp-* ing face 30 of the bracket l9. The screw 131s provided with a crank-handle 40 at its outer end and with a swiveled clamping head or button 4| at the other end. A work-piece W to be tenoned is placed against the machined-positioning faces 30 and 33 and is clamped in position by the swiveled head 4| of the clamping screw 33. The portion of the guard member 3| which is movable over the saw is of inverted U-shape or channel-shape, as best seen in Fig. '1. A plane handle 42 is secured to the guard member 30, as by a screw 43, to facilitate the movement 'of the carrier formed by the base plate l6 and the parts mounted thereon. The work-piece W is positioned in a vertical direction by an upright gage rod 44 adjustably secured to the bracket I8 and having thereon a work-engaging stop member 45 clamped in position by a thumb-screw 46. The gage rod slidably passes through a bore 41 in the bracket and isclamped thereto by a socket-head set-screw 48. The stop member is here shown to engage a shoulder formed by one of the tenons on the work-piece.

The laterally adjustable. bracket I9 is provided with a pointer 43 which cooperates with a scale on the base plate l6 to indicate the position of the bracket with respect to the base plate and to the saw.

For special work-pieces, such as the curved work-piece W, shown in Fig. 5, the work-positioning face 33 on the ordinarily be used and it is then desirable to employ an auxiliary positioning device to suit the work at hand. sist or a flat plate SI of wood or other material secured to the vertical face 30 of the bracket by screws 52 passing through bores 53 in the upright position of the bracket l3, there being blocks or shoulders 54 on the plat 5| to position the work-piece.

When a work-piece W" apparatusis set up as shown in Fig. 8, the table being tilted to a suitable inclination. Obviously, the same result could'be obtained by-tilting the is to be dovetailed, the

saw with respect to the-table.

The base plate I6 is preferably provided near its front portion with a miter gage head 55 which is swingably secured to the base plate by a pivot screw 56 and has an arcuate slot 51 concentric with the pivot screw and receiving therethrough a clamping thumb-screw 58. A pointer 59 on the base plate cooperates with an angular scale 60 on the miter gage head, and a swingable L- shaped stop member 6| on the base plate cooperates with a number of adjustable stop screws 62 on the head for facilitating the positioning of the head to different angular positions. The miter gage may be similar to that shown in my United States Letters Patent No. 1,894,010 for guard member. The arm 3! I or tapped holes to receive suitable work-clamping means, such guard member 3| cannot This device is here shown to con- Work holding means for gauges, issued January 10, 1933.

The sliding base plate I6 is adapted to support a work-piece B thereon (Fig. 2), the workpiece being positioned by the miter gage head 52 and being brought against the saw l2 by the advancing travel of the base plate. In some cases, the work-pieces W and B may be cut in the same operation as the base plate is advanced in its travel, while in other cases these work-pieces may be cut in separate operations. In still other cases the bracket l9 may be removed from the base plate to permit the sliding base plate to support wide boar The base plate It is provided with a number 63 near its opposite side edges as disclosed in my companion application for Work holders for shapers, Serial No. 64,610, tiled Februarylil, 1936, and when such work-clamping removed from the base plate.

For some classes of work, the circular saw may be replaced by a suitable shaping cutter head, such as that shown in my United States Letters Patent No. 1,830,813 for Cutter head, issued November-I10, 1931. other than wood, the saw may be replaced by a suitable abrasive cutting wheel or disk.

In Fig. 9, the work holder is shown applied to a spindle shaper having a table through which projects a rotary shaping cutter I2. The base plate It of the work holder slidably rests on the table II, the key oi the base plate slidably fitting 'in a guideway or groove ll formed in the table top. A work-piece C is clamped on the work holder and is fed past the rotary shaping cutter I2 by moving the work holder along the table. 55 of any suitable construction may remain on the table during the cutting operation, but may or may not be used to determine the depth of. cut, as desired.

In setting up the apparatus for tenoning, the. base plate It is mounted on the saw-table ii to slide thereon, and the bracket it is placed on the base plate, the key 20 thereof being entered transversely cut, isthen'clarnped to bracket IO 39, the .arm 35 home adjusted to by the screw 7 bring the clamping button .4 [about midway I between the .side ofi'the work-piece. The

thumb-screw I1 is adiustedto laterally'position means are employed the bracket l! is ordinarily For cutting various materials A cutter-guarding fence into the guide groove 22, and the clamping stud 23 being threaded into'the base plate, although 1 the work-piece with respect to the plane of the saw, and the bracket I3 is then clamped in position by the handle 26. 'lnesaw (or table) is raised or lowered to obtain the desired depth '0! cu In operation, the saw is driven from any suitable source of power, not showmand the operator grasps the handle 42 and pushes the work holder along the table to bring the clamped work-piece against the saw, thus severing a rectangular block from the work-piece. The work holder is then retracted, and the work-piece is released and reclamped after turning it side for side, following which the work-piece is again presented to the saw to complete the tenon at one end of the work-piece. The work-piece is. then turned end for end and reclamped to the work holder to out the other tenon in a similar manner. The stop piece; If desired, the work-pieces W and B may be cut in the same stroke or advance of the carrier, as hereinbefore noted.

When dovetail tenons are to be cut the same procedure is followed, except that the table is relatively inclined with respect to the saw,

'dicated in Fig. 6.

When the curved work-piece W of Fig. 5 is to be tenoned, it is clamped to the auxiliary positioning plate 5! on the bracket it, as hereinbefore described.

By means of the work holder of the invention, tenoning, dado cuttingon end grain, shaping, and other cutting operations can be safely, :urate ly, and quickly performed. The work holder fed toward the saw or other cutter with one hand I angle to the plane of said table, means for securtravel of said base member along said table guideway.

2. The combination, with a machine tool having a cutter and having a table with a guideway, oi a work holder slldable along said table and guided by said guideway and having a work-posiof said extending work-piece to said work-positioning face.

to said work-positioning face.

4. The combination,

to the plane of said table, clamping a work-piece to said face and at an adiustable elevation above the 5. The combination, with a machine tool having a cutter and having a table with a guideway, of a base member slldable along said table and said base member hava work-supporting member and guided said work-supportguided by said guideway, ing a transverse guidewa member slldable on said base by said transverse guideway,

new and desire to secure by and means for clamping the ing member having a work-positioning face, means for securing said work-supporting member to said base member, means for clamping a wo e to said work-positioning face to pre- Jiece to said cutter by i-L1', 1,; the transverse movement of said work-supporting member toward said cutter.

6. The combination,

slldable along said table and guided by said guideway, said base member having a transverse guideway, an L-shaped bracket having its foot portion slldable on said base member and guided by said transverse thereagainst an upstanding work-piece, and means for clamping the work-piece against at of the base plate, said work-positioning face being adapted to receive a wor work-piece against; said face to present'the underside of the workpiece to the saw blade by the travel of the base plate.

HERBERT E. TAU'IZ.

-piece thereagainst, 7 

